Beyond the Sea
by Caitydubbelyew
Summary: "I shan't tell you my name though you have heard it before. None but Galadriel, Elrond, Celeborn, Círdan and Gandalf know that it belongs to me. The Dúnedain call me Tauvrennil, and everyone in Imladris has adopted that name. You may do the same." My take on girl dumped in middle earth. NOT 10th walker. Mostly bookverse. Any who haven't read will likely be confused. no pairings yet


Chapter 1

When the mess that I'm in now happened I was alone, as usual. The psychologist that I've been seeing since I was twelve years old has said that it's a defence mechanism. If I'm alone most of the time, I'm not around people, if I'm not around people, I cant get close to them and if I'm close to no one then no one can hurt me. This arrangement works well, but it is also very lonely. She's right, of course, and I know that I shut out and push away anyone who is close. It is for this reason that in the year I have been away from my family on student exchange I haven't been homesick once. If anything I've missed the things, weather, and outdoors of my country more than my family and friends.

Depressing, isn't it? I'm more attached to my country and my stuff than I am to my family.

I cant quite remember what I was supposed to be doing only that I was waiting at the bus stop and that I must have fallen asleep. When I woke up I was in a totally different place. I was on the top of a small mountain inside an old ruin. I wasn't wearing the clothes I had been earlier that day rather I was wearing a collection of things that I recognized as being from my home. This was strange as I hadn't been home in almost a year.

I was dressed in the clothes I would usually use for hiking or other outdoor activities. Khaki trousers, a belt with my pocket knife hanging off it, hiking boots, thick socks, a t-shirt and, strangest of all, I had my mothers long, grey cloak pinned around my shoulders clasped around my neck with my granny's gold and ruby brooch that had been given to me after she died. My hiking pack was lying next to me so I opened it and emptied the contents out onto the ground.

Everything inside it had been sealed inside vacuum-packed bags so there were a lot more things inside than I would usually been able to carry. There were clothes: several different packages of them, which I would not open to look inside because I would never be able to pack them back in otherwise; food, several days supply of rations, a bivvy sack (big, extremely durable plastic bag big enough for a person to sleep inside) and my sleeping bag. A billycan with a first aid kit and survival kit inside had been hanging on the outside of the pack along with my water bottles which were both full.

I repacked everything then took off the cloak and rolled it up and strapped it to the outside of the pack then hoisted the whole thing onto my back and climbed up to the highest point of the ruin and looked out. The country around me was flat with a much larger mountain range on the eastern horizon and nothing but a line of small mountains, big hills really, rolling into flat green country in the north. The west was more interesting. Away beyond the foot of the mountain I was on lay a marsh, beyond that was a small wood on a hill and around that hill were several villages, one larger than the others. There was a road running from it, past the southern end of the mountain, and toward the range far in the east. Further south there was nothing but open country.

I decided to avoid the marsh by going down the mountain to the road, then to head westward toward the town. I wouldn't be able to make it that far all in one day but I should be able to get to the edge of the wood and camp there by the second or third night and then carry on into the town the next morning.

Having made up my mind I climbed down the mountain and made my way toward the road. When I reached it. I stopped on the grass next to the road and fished out something to snack on while I walked.

Travelling along the road was easy going and I made good progress. I stopped to camp for the night at about halfway between the midpoint of the marshes and the start of the forest. The next morning I rose early, for me anyway, and set off. The bugs from the marsh had woken me by flying in my face as soon as it was warm enough to be out and about. The sun was not yet visible over the mountains in the east and the wind was cool blowing in from the east. I was slightly cold but walking soon warmed me up. I ate on the road once again as I was eager to get somewhere more hospitable and I didn't have a fire to cook on, as there was no wood, so food had to be eaten cold.

It was about three o'clock in the afternoon and I had eventually stopped to eat when I saw a figure coming toward me in the distance. They were wearing a cloak and carrying a pack and walking stick. I quickly pulled the cloak off the back of my pack and put it around my shoulders, pinning it from the inside to hide the brooch from sight. I pulled the hood up over my head and made sure that none of my clothing was visible. It was a chilly day but under the sun and out of the wind that was blowing on the road I was too hot under the cloak. I shifted uncomfortably, wishing the other person would hurry up and pass by.

As he drew nearer, I could tell it was a man. I was glad I had covered myself with the cloak now for I saw he was dressed in medieval clothing. He was limping slightly but seemed determined to press on for as long as possible. There was no town visible nearby and I guessed he wanted to make it to the shelter of the mountains I had left behind a few hours ago before nightfall. The wind was blowing in from the west and couldn't be felt on the other side of the mountain range.

As he came to me he stopped and took in my appearance. "Is there anything I can help you with?" I asked

He looked up quickly, as startled as I was, at the sound of my voice. The timbre of my voice had changed and I was speaking in a different language than any I knew, perhaps the language of this country? The language was beautiful; it was smooth and flowing like a rippling stream, joyful as the sunshine in spring and filled with all the beauty of the world. My voice was less rough than it had been, as fair and clear as ringing bells.

I have always been told I have a beautiful voice, but I always thought it sounded wrong, not clear enough and too rough. I like to sing though and if nobody minded I would sing constantly. I had been too busy enjoying the world around me while I was walking and hadn't begun singing, so I hadn't heard the changes in my voice until now.

He just stared at me as if he did not believe that I was really there and had spoken to him so I stood and repeated my question in English. I was quite a bit taller than him though this did not surprise me much as I have always been taller than most people.

"Is there anything I can help you with? I noticed you were limping, if you are injured I may be able to help?"

This time he answered me. "I wouldn't want to bother you. In fact I only stopped because I am surprised to see one of your kind here. One almost never sees a ranger travelling along the roads; your kind usually go through the wild, the fact that you are a lady is even more surprising. I have never seen nor heard of anyone encountering a women of the rangers folk nor of a woman ever travelling alone."

"What makes you think I am a ranger? I spoke to you because I need your assistance and offered to help you because I believe one good turn deserves another."

"Well the fact that you spoke to me in the fair tongue is one, your cloak is of finer make than I have ever seen and you are very tall, even for one of the rangers. And to answer your earlier question, I would be extremely grateful if you would see to my leg. I can patch it up well enough but I daresay you know more of healing than I and I have nothing to bind it with. I will gladly help you if I can though."

I lowered my hood and smiled at him. "I give you my thanks. Come and sit and you can answer my questions while I fix your leg."

"May I say miss," he said as he sat down, "that if all the women of your folk are like you then the I am not surprised that none has ever seen a lady ranger for if our women were as fair and beautiful as yours, we would not let them out of our protection either. On that note, miss, you seem mighty young to be travelling alone."

"Thank you for the compliment though I am not so young as I may seem nor am I a ranger, I have been away from my family for nearly a year now. My home is in the south and I have been travelling." I said as I took bandages out of my first aid kit. This was mostly truth. I live in South Africa and had been away on student exchange for nearly a year before I ended up here.

"That is what I need help with you see. I am unfamiliar with this part of the country and have lost my map. It would help enormously if you would tell me where I am and about the town further along this road that I am heading for. Is there somewhere there I can get a good nights rest and restock my supplies?"

His eyebrows, which had crept up his forehead while I had been speaking, furrowed suddenly as I touched a sore spot on his ankle. It was only sprained and I told him such while I pulled out bruise and sprain ointment and a wooden splint.

He spoke again as I started strapping his ankle. "You are in Eriador on the east-west road that runs between the Bree-hill and the Misty Mountains. Bree itself is the largest of the towns around here though still quite small compared to the great cities, but you will be able to get what you need there. It is a strange place to those who do not live there. Both hobbits, that is, halflings to those not from around here, and men dwell there and rangers pass through quite regularly.

"You would do well to stay away from them. Though you may, unfortunately, be mistaken for one, people will not get in your way because of it and whatever you ask will most likely be done quickly and without fuss. People are very wary of them in Bree and rightly soy

"The best place to stay there is an inn on the main street of Bree called 'The Prancing Pony.' It has been there for as long as anyone can remember and you will get a bed and a hot meal better there than anywhere else."

I had finished strapping his ankle by then and had put all of my things back in my pack. It was a plain canvas pack with metal supports not dissimilar to my fathers army issue one so it didn't stand out as much as my other, smaller one would have, it being maroon and black and made of synthetic materials. I got up and he thanked me for helping him. I asked if there was anything else I could do and he shook his head saying that he would be fine and that he had better get going if he wanted to reach the place he wanted to stop before nightfall so bidding him farewell and thanking him for his help I hoisted my pack again and set off toward Bree.


End file.
